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A cure for HIV-1 (HIV) remains unrealized due to a reservoir of latently infected cells that persist during antiretroviral therapy (ART), with reservoir size associated with adverse health outcomes and inversely with time to viral rebound upon ART cessation. Once established during ART, the HIV reservoir decays minimally over time; thus, understanding factors that impact the size of the HIV reservoir near its establishment is key to improving the health of people living with HIV and for the development of novel cure strategies. Yet, to date, few correlates of HIV reservoir size have been identified, particularly in pediatric populations. Here, we employed a cross-subtype intact proviral DNA assay (CS-IPDA) to quantify HIV provirus between one- and two-years post-ART initiation in a cohort of Kenyan children (n = 72), which had a median of 99 intact (range: 0-2469), 1340 defective (range: 172-3.84 × 10 4 ), and 1729 total (range: 178-5.11 × 10 4 ) HIV proviral copies per one million T cells. Additionally, pre-ART plasma was tested for HIV Env-specific antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) activity. We found that pre-ART gp120-specific ADCC activity inversely correlated with defective provirus levels (n = 68, r = -0.285, p = 0.0214) but not the intact reservoir (n = 68, r = -0.0321, p -value = 0.800). Pre-ART gp41-specific ADCC did not significantly correlate with either proviral population (n = 68; intact: r = -0.0512, p -value = 0.686; defective: r = -0.109, p -value = 0.389). This suggests specific host immune factors prior to ART initiation can impact proviruses that persist during ART.

We evaluated treatment failure misclassification in human immunodeficiency virus-infected Kenyan children whose targeted viral loads were determined after suspected immunologic/clinical failure according to 2006 and 2010/2013 World Health Organization guidelines. The misclassification rate was 21% for the 2006 guidelines and 46% for the 2010/2013 guidelines, which supports current recommendations for routine viral load monitoring but not necessarily the proposed CD4 thresholds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The HADITHI study is a cluster-randomized trial of children living with HIV and their caregivers in Kenya that aimed to increase rates of caregiver disclosure of their child's HIV status, encourage earlier status disclosure, and improve pediatric mental health and HIV outcomes. This analysis identified characteristics predicting caregiver non-responsiveness and compared outcomes among children based on disclosure status., Methods: A penalized logistic regression model with lasso regularization identified the most important predictors of disclosure. The two-stage least squares instrumental variable approach was used to assess outcomes accounting for non-compliance to disclosure., Results: Caregiver non-isolation and shorter time on antiretroviral therapy were predictive of HIV status disclosure. There were no statistically significant differences found in CD4 percentage, depression status, or mental and emotional status based on disclosure status up to 24 months-post intervention., Conclusion: These findings have implications for specialists seeking to tailor disclosure interventions to improve caregiver-child dyad responsiveness., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Magill, Nyandiko, Baum, Aluoch, Chory, Ashimoshi, Lidweye, Njoroge, Sang, Nyagaya, Scanlon, Hogan and Vreeman.)

Despite expansive scale-up of prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV services in Kenya over the last decade, Kenya remains one of the countries contributing to high numbers of children living with HIV globally and is among the 22 PMTCT global plan priority countries. Using structured and in-depth interviews this study examined enabling factors that enhance utilization of and adherence to PMTCT services in an urban setting in Kenya. HIV-positive birthmothers (N = 55) whose infants were HIV-negative at the time of the study completed a structured interview and a subset (n = 15) participated in in-depth interviews. The majority of the mothers (98 %) delivered at a health facility and 91 % exclusively breastfed. Further, 91 % attended clinic appointments regularly and 69.1 % strictly adhered to prescribed medication dosage and schedules. However, 18 % had not disclosed their HIV status to anybody, 27 % did not use condom during sex, 95 % did not participate in AIDS support groups and 53 % of their male partners were not involved in PMTCT. Four key themes facilitating PMTCT success emerged from the qualitative data: supportive counseling, striving for motherhood, assurance of confidentiality; and confirmation, affirmation and admiration. HIV/AIDS related stigma and gender imbalances create many missed opportunities for HIV-positive mothers to reach out for support from family and community, apply acquired knowledge and access more affordable care. To be successful, PMTCT programs should be aware of these factors and ensure that mothers are provided with culturally competent care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]